The One Looked Up To
by making an attempt
Summary: Details can often have a very large affect on an individuals life. Details like who your eldest sibling is. This is a fanfic about what would happen if Darry was not the oldest.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Outsiders_, its characters, or anything else belonging to S.E. Hinton.

A/N: This is the same story we all know and love with the addition of one other character, an eldest sister. Yes, this is a sister story. Yes, I am aware that there are no sisters (excluding Two-Bit's) in the book and that a lot of people are annoyed by them. No, I'm not writing this to annoy; I'm writing this to see how certain events would change if Darry wasn't the oldest. This is in the point of view of my original character and is pre-book. Please, give it a chance.

Here we go…

I disliked the little trip down memory lane I was being forced to take as I walked down the halls of my former high school. I never liked school. I was somewhat of a recluse. I stuck to myself and I concentrated on my schoolwork. My introverted nature probably helped me receive my good grades.

My family never seemed to understand why I didn't have many friends or why I didn't get involved with school activities. I had no desire to be a cheerleader, or whatever it was girls did those days. Graduation was the happiest day of my life; it meant I could go out and make it on my own.

So much had seemed to happen in the four short years I had been away. I worked two jobs in addition to school, received my bachelor of science in nursing, moved into an apartment of my own, and got a job nursing at the local hospital.

Right when everything started looking up, I lost my parents. I moved back into my parent's old house and got custody of my two youngest brother's Sodapop and Ponyboy. My 20 year old brother Darryl and I have been caring for them ever since.

I was brought back to reality when I reached the classroom I was looking for: room 316, Mrs. Reynolds's math classroom.

"Hello Mrs. Curtis," the matronly woman I assumed was Mrs. Reynolds said.

I was confused as to why she would refer to me as "Mrs. Curtis." It was clearly incorrect.

"Please, call me Linda."

"Of course, thank you for meeting with me on such short notice."

I had to restrain to keep my temper. Mrs. Reynolds had called me this morning requesting to speak to me. I had to call in and request to leave work early. My boss was less than pleased.

"No problem. I hate to be blunt, but what did Sodapop do this time?"

I loved my younger brother Sodapop dearly, but he struggled in school. Consequently, he often got himself into trouble.

"I didn't call you in here about Sodapop, this is about Ponyboy."

Ponyboy was different. He was very bright and had always done well in school; he had even been moved up a grade. Math had never been his favorite subject, but I was very surprised to be hearing from his teacher nonetheless.

"Ponyboy seems to be having trouble in my class. I don't think he understands the material. His grade has dropped severely."

I breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, if that's all, I wouldn't worry about it. Ponyboy is very bright, I'm sure he'll pick it up with time."

Mrs. Reynolds exhaled sharply, "Mrs. Curtis, I don't think you quite understand. I think it would be in your best interest to hire a tutor for Ponyboy."

Did it look like I could afford a tutor? I had already changed out of my work uniform and was dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and an old t-shirt. Now that I thought about it, I probably looked like a hooligan.

"I'm afraid to say this, but I don't think we could fit a tutor into our budget the way it is now. Would it be possible for him to stay after school and receive help from you?"

Mrs. Reynolds looked at me sourly and said, "I don't believe that will be possible."

I frowned. Something about this woman did not sit right with me. "Well then," I sighed, "I guess I'll just have to help him myself."

I started to get up to leave and I caught Mrs. Reynolds looking at my doubtfully. I turned back to her indignantly and said, "Mrs. Reynolds, are you doubting my ability to teach my younger brother his 9th grade math? I am perfectly capable of such a task."

I instantly regretted what I had said. I shouldn't have acted so unprofessionally even if the woman angered me so. When I looked back at her though, her face didn't show any signs of anger, just confusion.

"Brother?" she questioned.

I stared at her confused. "Ponyboy is my younger brother," stating what I assumed was obvious.

"So you're not his mother?" Mrs. Reynolds asked even though the answer should have been already made clear.

That's why she kept calling me Mrs. Curtis. Mother? That's absurd.

"Mrs. Reynolds, I'm 22. I'm Pony and Soda's older sister. Are you new here? Have you read their student files?" I questioned.

Mrs. Reynolds answered, "I've only been here for three months."

I could not believe this woman. "Well, since you clearly haven't taken the time to get to know any of your students, I'll fill you in. My name is Linda Curtis. I went to school here four years ago, but enough about me," I paused and studied her reaction; "Sodapop and Ponyboy are my younger brothers. My parents died in a car accident recently and I have had custody of them ever since."

I waited for her to speak but she was too stunned. "Next time you call me in here, please do your homework. I do appreciate your concern for Pony, but he is a bright kid, I would appreciate if you could remember that in the future."

I got up from my chair, shook Mrs. Reynolds hand and began to leave, "Good day Mrs. Reynolds."

I walked swiftly down the halls and out into the parking lot, glad to be leaving the high school. I hopped in my beat up car and started her up. I looked at my work uniform sitting in the passenger's seat and decided not to bother going back to work; my shift would be over soon anyway. I drove off in the direction of home.

I lived in a small house. It was slightly beat up, but I loved it just the same. I headed inside and set my things down on the table.

"Hey guys," I said while walking into the kitchen.

Pony and Johnny were sitting in a corner talking quietly. Pony looked up to say hello to me briefly and then turned back to continue talking. Two-Bit was sitting next to Steve laughing loudly about something on the couch and Soda was pacing around. Soda followed me into the kitchen.

I was looking in the icebox for something to cook for dinner. "Hey, sis, you're home early," he commented.

"Yeah," I laughed, "I took off work early, I had a meeting with you teacher, Mrs. Reynolds."

He looked at me with a horror stricken face. I laughed and patted him on the cheek, "Don't worry, it's nothing you did."

He flashed me a smile, "worried? Who's worried?" I shook my head and grinned.

"So if it wasn't something I did," Soda asked, "what were you talking about?"

"It was just something about Pony," I explained and his eyes widened out of what I assumed was surprise.

The only thing in the kitchen was some chicken. I yelled to the boy's in the living room, "who's staying for dinner?"

I heard a chorus of "me's." I turned to Sodapop and asked, "I still have no idea who's staying."

Sodapop laughed, "I think it's safe to say that Pony is staying."

"You're a helpful one," I joked. Soda returned, "Aren't I?"

Soda started to help with the cooking and I smiled, "Soda, you don't have to help if you don't want to."

He looked over at me, "Linda, go relax."

I stared at Soda intensely for a couple of seconds and then took his advice. I could let Soda cook for one day, how terrible could that be?

I made my way past the roughhousing and went into the bathroom. I looked into the mirror and let my hair down. Did I really look old enough to be Pony's mother? I stared harder into the mirror. I never really thought out about looks. I was rather tall and kind of grotesquely skinny. I had light brown hair and green eyes. Like I said, I never really thought about it, until now.

I entered back into the living room to see Two–Bit holding Pony's arm behind his back yelling, "Say Uncle!" "Never!" Pony shouted.

I looked around the room and saw that Steve was no longer in the room, probably in the kitchen with Soda. Johnny was now sitting next to Dally who must have arrived sometime when I was in the bathroom.

"Alright, alright, let my brother go," I said.

"Aw, come on, I had him," Two-Bit whined.

"He's thirteen Two-Bit."

Pony shouted, "I'm right here!" Everyone in the room laughed. I settled down in the couch and leaned my head against the arm rest.

Two-Bit looked over at me questioningly, "What's bugging you, Linda?"

"Do I look old to you?"

The second I said that I regretted it. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess the fact that Pony's teacher thought I was so much older than I was was getting to me.

All the guys in the room stared at me. Two-Bit broke the uneasy silence and heartily said, "You're the oldest one here."

Dally cut him off, "Two-Bit, you're an idiot. Linda, what's this about?"

I shook my head, "nevermind."

"Are you sure?" Johnny asked uneasily.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Forget I said anything."

Slowly all the guys left and left just the family. As if on cue, Darry came in through the front door. "Dinner's ready!" Soda yelled.

Darry started getting out plates and Soda got the chocolate milk from the ice box. Pony was still sitting on the couch reading. "Ponyboy, finish up." I said sternly and sat down.

We all started eating. Dinner was surprisingly normal considering it was one of Soda's creations.

"Soda, this is good," Darry commented reading my mind.

"You must be hungry," Pony muttered stabbing his chicken repeatedly with his fork.

Soda punched him playfully on the shoulder and stole his food off of his plate.

Pony looked at him and sighed, "Soda, you eat too much."

Soda pretended to look hurt and pushed his plate away from himself dramatically.

"I'm really tired," Pony said, "May I be excused?"

I thought on it and finally said, "Yeah sure. I wanted to talk to you before you went to bed, but go ahead. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Pony nodded, put his plate away, picked up his book, and started to leave.

"You're not tired," I accused, "You just want to read."

Pony laughed, "You know me too well."

"I guess I'll let you off easy this time," I said and Pony went off to his room.

"Linda?" Soda asked uneasily, "I've kind of wanted to talk to you too."

"Sure soda, what is it?"

"Well you know how I hate school right?"

I sighed and nodded. He continued, "Well I was thinking, I could drop out of high school and get a job."

Both Darry and I dropped our forks on our plates and looked at him shocked.

"Soda..." I started. "Let's discuss this tomorrow. I'm too tired for this right now."

A/N: I know this first chapter is pretty slow, and I hope that this story will pick up the pace as it progresses. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, positive or negative.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Outsiders._

A/N: Thank you so much to Rubberdu3ky, hauntedpumpkin56, Welch, Hyperbanana16, ponycakepop, and sunkissedchris for their reviews. They mean a lot to me; I'm sure you all understand that. Now that I reread the first chapter, I don't really like it that much at all. It might be changed in the near future. In addition, I will be spending more time editing my future chapters. Hopefully the wait time isn't too long. I think I was overly anxious to start this story. Your support is greatly appreciated.

On with the story…

I awoke groggily the next morning, remembered that it was Saturday and I didn't have to go to work until the evening, and tried in vain to return back to the land of the sleeping. Several minutes later I heard a loud crashing sound in the living room. I promptly got out of bed and walked swiftly down the hallway to see all three of my brothers standing over the lamp which was broken into four pieces.

My presence went unnoticed as Darry began to yell, "Pony you're never thinking! Look what you've done now?"

"I'm sorry Dar, I didn't mean to."

Soda noticed me looked up with sad eyes. I walked over to Darry and Soda and placed a hand on one of both their shoulders.

"Boys," I intervened, "There's no need for all of this. Darry, calm down. Pony, be more careful." I raised my eyebrows at them as if to say, "Understood?"

They both nodded and Soda exasperatedly sighed.

I glanced over at the clock and announced, "Darry, you better be going to work."

"You're right," Darry said getting up to leave, "and Ponyboy, I'm sorry for yelling at you." Pony nodded curtly and Darry went out the front door. I walked over and sat by Ponyboy on the couch. I slung my arm around his shoulder and asked, "What do you plan to do on your day off from school?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I have a book report to write. Maybe I'll do some math homework. Can I hang out with Johnny later? It'll probably be after you leave for work."

"Yeah sure. So, you mentioned school work, how's that going?"

"It's going," he frowned, "same as always."

I looked at him dubiously, "you sure?"

He shook my arm off his shoulder and walked into the kitchen to get a piece of cake. "Yeah," he said nervously, "why?"

"Well," I joined him sitting at the kitchen table, "I talked to your teacher Mrs. Reynolds the other day."

Ponyboy groaned, "Why'd you do that?"

"Pony, I know you don't like telling me when you're having trouble, but you have to okay?"

He made no attempt to start talking so I continued, "I know this past year has been hard on you. We're all here for you."

"Yeah, I know." Pony mumbled.

"Alright, well from now on I'm going to check over your homework okay? And if you need help, you have to come ask me, got it?"

Pony nodded and then looked uncertain about something.

"What is it Pone?"

"Well," he started cautiously, "Yesterday, you seemed kind of upset. You know when Two-Bit was telling you you were old."

I sighed, "Pony, your teacher and I didn't hit it off too well."

"What do you mean?"

I laughed slightly, "She thought I was your mother."

Ponyboy started cracking up and I smacked him on the arm, "its not funny Pony!"

Soda entered the kitchen, "What's not funny?"

"Mrs. Reynolds thought Linda was mom!" Pony yelled between laughs.

Soda instantly started cracking up too.

"Guys, it's not funny!" I laughed.

The laughter finally died down and Soda said, "Linda, we're not laughing at you."

"I told you Mrs. Reynolds was crazy!" Ponyboy added.

"So I don't look old?" I asked tentatively.

Soda laughed and started to say, "Linda you're not old, you're-"

Two-Bit took that opportunity to bust trough the front door and finish Soda's sentence. "HOT!" he yelled.

Soda frowned, "Two-Bit, you better not be hitting on my sister."

By that time the laughter in the room had escalated to the kind of laughing where you are heaving for oxygen and can't stop smiling. W all attempted to regain composure when Johnny and Dally entered.

"What's so funny?" Dally asked.

"Linda likes it when I hit on her," Two-Bit explained twisting the situation.

"In your dreams," I said emphatically.

Two-Bit continued to joke, "aw, come on you know I've got the good looks of the gang."

I laughed in his face. "Seriously Linda, who's the best looking one in the gang? And you can't choose Soda 'cause that's cheating."

Soda beamed. I looked around the room and decided to play it safe and said, "Johnny is." Johnny who had been staring off to one side now looked at me with wide eyes.

I gave Johnny a hug and said, "Now why don't y'all stop bugging me and get out of here and have some fun."

They all started to get up, except for Pony.

"Pony you coming?" Johnny asked.

"Nah, I have some schoolwork to do."

I looked over at Pony and said, "Pony, you have tomorrow to work on it, you can go if you want."

He smiled, "its fine."

"We'll probably be coming back later, you can catch up with us then," Soda offered.

"Thanks, Soda," Pony smiled.

I walked to the front door with the guys getting ready to shut the front door when Two-Bit quietly whispered into my ear, "can I talk to you for a second alone?"

I looked over at Ponyboy sitting at the kitchen table and called, "Hey Pony, can you go find some glue? Let's try to fix that lamp."

He groaned, got up, and went off in the direction of his room.

I turned back to Two-Bit whose usual carefree expression was gone.

"What is this about Two-Bit?"

He looked to one side of him and said, "You know my sister, Deborah right?"

"Debbie? Of course, is everything okay?" I asked with a hint of worry.

"Yeah, I mean, uh…" Two-Bit struggles, "I don't know. She's been really down lately. I'm sure it's something small, but when I tried to talk to her she said I wouldn't understand. I thought maybe it was a," he shuddered, "girl thing."

I smiled, "do you want me to talk to her?"

"Yes, thanks so much, I'll have her stop by later is that okay?"

"Anytime before four, now get out of here, don't worry so much, it doesn't suit you!" I joked shooing him out of the house.

Ponyboy emerged from his room holding a bottle of glue shouting, "taa daa!"

I laughed, "good, let's try and fix this."

I picked up one piece and held it out for Pony to put glue on. We tried to stick the other piece together and it hastily fell apart. I sighed. "I don't think this glue thing is going to work, let's just use some duct tape."

Pony laughed and went to get it. He returned and we successfully put the lamp back together. Pony set it back on its perch and it teetered slightly and finally rested at a slightly lopsided angle.

"Now that is a lamp fit or a greaser," Pony said jokingly but with a hint of sadness.

"You can say that again," I sighed once more, "Well, you might as well finish up your homework. I'll get a new bulb and sweep up the broken pieces."

Pony nodded and started off to his bedroom. Before he could get too far I stopped him, "Oh and Pony, Deborah might be stopping by later."

Pony looked at me quizzically, "Deborah Mathews?"

I nodded and he groaned. "What? Don't like her?"

"It's not that," Pony said, "I mean we're go to the same school and everything. We were fine before, but recently, she's all weird. She stares at me funny."

I nodded understandingly. "I'm sure she doesn't mean it. You probably won't even see her, but be nice when she gets here, you dig?"

Pony nodded and disappeared into his room.

I turned to go sit in the living room and read the paper when my stomach started growling. I soon remembered, I hadn't eaten breakfast. I finished up with the lamp quickly went into the kitchen and saw some leftover bacon and eggs sitting on the table.

'good,' I thought, 'the boys ate before they left.' I started picking at the food when I heard a knock at the door.

'That was fast' I thought and then called out, "doors open!"

I quickly set the plate I had been eating from in the sink and walked into the living room. Debbie was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room holding on to the edge of her shirt with one hand.

"Hey Debbie," I said cheerfully, "Go ahead, sit down, make yourself comfortable."

She sat down on one side of the couch and I sat in the armchair next to her. "Linda?" Debbie asked cautiously, "Your brothers aren't home are they?"

"Only Pony, he's in his room studying."

"Oh," she said and then got real quiet.

"But I'm sure he can't hear us so don't feel like you can't talk to me," I added for good measure.

"You sure?" she asked doubting me.

"Yeah, he's probably engrossed in a book. So what's this all about?"

"Well what did Two-Bit tell you?"

"Nothing really, just that you said he doesn't understand you. I know how that is, I've got three brother of my own."

"Well, it's just because he's not a, I mean he doesn't, uhm…" she rambled.

"Because he's not a girl, right?"

"Yes," she sighed in relief.

"Well, I've got that covered, so you can talk to me about whatever it is."

"Well…" she looked over to the direction of Pony's room, "It's about a boy."

So she likes Ponyboy, eh? It all makes sense.

"I thought so," I smiled, "so who is it? what's the problem?"

"Well, I'm not sure I want to say, he's kind of…do you promise not to tell?" I nodded sincerely, "I mean he's your," she suddenly started whispering, "brother."

I smiled, "Pony right? Because the other two are a little bit old for you," I joked.

She laughed, "Of course! The problem is he doesn't even know I exist, and whenever I look at him he looks at me funny, like he's weirded out or something."

"Well, maybe that's your problem, you might want to try going up and talking to him every once and a while."

She frowned, "Maybe…"

"Trust me, if he's not nice to you, he's not worth it, you got it? "

She nodded. "And that goes for pretty much everything else too."

She smiled, "thanks Linda. I should probably get going."

"No problem. Are you sure that's all that's bugging you?"

"Yup I'm sure." She jumped up from the couch and gave me a quick hug.

"Alright Debbie, anytime you need to talk about something don't hesitate to come on over."

"Alright," she said and headed towards the door.

"Hey Debbie," I stopped her, "where are you off to? Do you need a ride? I don't want you walking around by yourself."

"Oh no, It's fine. I'm going to a friend's house down the block; you can even see it from here. Thanks though!"

"Sure, see you later." I called after her as she raced out the door.

I laughed to myself. Kids these days. Feeling too old, I shook that though out of my head and went to check on Pony.

"How's it coming?" I asked.

"Good, I only have math left. Was that Deborah?"

I nodded. "What did she want," Pony asked rudely.

"Nothing Pony, she just needed to talk. Try and be nice to her, she's actually a pretty sweet girl, despite being related to Two-Bit."

Pony laughed and then returned to his work. I continued to read over his shoulder. I could tell he was uncomfortable me standing over him but soon after he looked up at me and said, "can you help me I don't know why I'm getting such a weird number for number 32."

I took his paper from him and looked it over. "You're doing it right, just check over your multiplication in step 4." I handed him back the paper and he studied it.

"What does 4 times 7 equal?" I asked.

"Not 24," he said frustrated, "I'm always making stupid mistakes like that. I get bored in the middle of problems, math is so boring."

I smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "you'll get it eventually. How many more problems?"

He beamed, "all done!"

A/N: Again, sorry this is so slow. I felt as if there was way too much dialogue and too many repetitive "I walked into the kitchen" or "I walked into the living room" type deals. Also, I apologize if To-Bit seemed out of character, or if Deborah was just odd in general. I'll have to work on it. I promise there is action planned for the next chapter! I'm going to start sounding like a broken record really quickly but, I appreciate the feedback so much, if anyone has any suggestion or criticisms, I will gladly take them!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Outsiders._

A/N: Chapter Three, finally! Thanks again to Rubberdu3ky and sunkissedchris. Your reviews brighten my day! I changed the rating to M just to be safe, I wasn't sure if the swearing in here would be considered "mild course language" or "minor course language" and possibly violence, after all it is _The Outsiders_. Hopefully this chapter does not disappoint.

Let's go…

I glanced at the clock. 4:26. I hadn't even been working for half an hour and already I was bored? I was in for a long day. 4:00-11:00, I sure love night shifts.

"Curtis! Are you listening? Room 203, quickly!" my boss Jennifer said sternly. If there weren't people milling around in the lobby beside us, she would have yelled, that's just how she is.

"Yes ma'am," I said hurriedly and walked briskly to retrieve the medicine Jennifer had asked for.

Jennifer was four years my senior and was head nurse at Tulsa general. She liked to boss us around, but we all knew she cared underneath it all.

I went to the patient's room and handed them a small cup if water and a small cup with two pills in it. "Here you go, Mrs. Yorkshire."

Mrs. Yorkshire, aged 73, was a regular around here. She liked to get herself in a fuss about things that probably didn't need to be fussed over. She was a soc, born and raised, and liked to give us nurses a hard time.

"Finally!" she croaked, "It feels like I've been waiting for treatment for hours!"

"Now Mrs. Yorkshire," I began but she cut me off.

"Don't go trying to calm me down, no sir! I will not be told what or what not to…"She trailed off in a coughing fit.

"Mrs. Yorkshire are you alright? Now take those pills, they're from Doctor Hansen. We want you to get better."

She eyed me suspiciously and finally obliged. I watched her swallow the medicine. "There you go, now is there anything else you need before I leave?"

"I don't need anything from the likes of you!"

I nodded my head in understanding, "Alright, I'll have someone come back later to check on you, try to get some rest."

I promptly left and went into the lobby.

"Is the family of William Mueller here?"

Two very worried parents stood up and walked over to me.

"Good news," I said, "The doctor is done putting William's cast on. His arm will be fine. He's over in room 314. Doctor Hansen can tell you what you need to do from there."

The woman looked at me with gratitude I placed my hand on her shoulder and nodded warmly. Then the two parents who were very relieved were off to hug their 10 year old boy and chastise him for not being more careful while climbing trees.

I was about to head back to nurses station to see what my next assignment would be when a boy stopped me. He looked to be around 18 or so. His hair had a great deal of grease in it and he looked just like any common hood.

"Can I help you sir?" I asked politely.

"I bet you can," he said provocatively and somewhat slurred. He was drunk, isn't that great.

I didn't know how to respond, "Uhm…are you here to see someone, I could point you in the direction of their room." I stammered.

"The only place I want to be is right here," he said snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him.

I tried to push him away but he was too strong. I was about to call for help when a strong hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me away from the boy.

I looked up to see Dally standing there glaring at the boy. "You alright Linda?" he asked not taking his eyes away from my offender.

"Fine" I responded. Dally moved his hand away from my shoulder and put his arm around me.

"Beat it scum," Dally said menacingly to the boy, "You better hope I don't see you again."

"Shit," the boy cursed and made himself scarce.

I looked up at Dally who promptly removed his arm from around me, "What are you doing here"

"Quick," he said motioning me to follow, "It's Johnny."

"They're not letting anyone see him," Dally said turning another corner

"Protocol," I explained, "What happened?"

"What do you think?" he snarled his anger not pointed at me, "those son of a bitch socs got him!"

"How bad is he?"

"I ain't no doctor, but he looked pretty busted up to me."

If Dally thought someone looked bad after a fight, it was probably pretty bad.

We arrived at the room and I went on in, leaving Dally to argue with another nurse about being allowed to enter. All I saw when I entered the room was a swarm of nurses and doctors and Johnny lying in a bed bruised and bloody. The first thing I saw was a gash running from his temple to his jaw. By the way the doctors were bandaging him up it looked like he had some busted ribs too. It hurt me to see Johnny lying so lifelessly in the bed.

"Oh Johnny, what did they do to you?" I said, pushing my way closer to him.

"Do you know him?" one of the nurses asked me.

"Yeah, he's my brother's best friend." I said quickly.

"Maybe you shouldn't be…"

"Oh come off it Donna, I'm not going to do anything stupid."

The next couple of minutes were chaotic. Finally the doctors managed to have him stabilized and we could all relax. The doctors and nurses started to clear out. I sat in a chair by Johnny's side. I took his hand in mine and started talking to him.

"Oh Johnny, I'm so sorry they did this to you."

He started to thrash around in the bed.

"No," he cried in his sleep, "don't come near me!"

I tried shaking him awake."Johnny, Johnny, you have to wake up."

Finally he woke and asked tiredly, "Linda?"

"Yes Johnny, It's me," I said soothingly, "It's alright, you're safe in the hospital."

"Hospital?" he panicked.

"Jonny it's okay, you're safe now."

He looked up at me and smiled.

"I'm going to go get the rest of the gang." He nodded, I let go of his hand that I had been holding on to.

I went outside to go find Dally and the rest of the gang who I assumed would be there.

When I arrived in the lobby I found Dally, Two-Bit, and Steve sitting next to each other looking ready to kill, Darry pacing around anxiously, Pony looking sullen and Soda trying to calm him down.

When they saw me, they all shot up from their seats ready to inquire.

"They got him stabilized, so he's going to be alright. He's pretty banged up though and probably will be for awhile. He's got a couple of broken ribs and that cut on his face will probably scar. They're going to release him in a couple of days."

Everyone visibly relaxed. "Oh and he can have visitors now," I added in the last second.

Soda whooped and headed down the hallway. Darry grab hold of his shoulder, "Soda we're in a hospital," I heard him say. I chuckled and followed the rest of the gang into Johnny's room.

They all surrounded him and the room filled with laughter as they told Johnny what a scare he had caused.

I placed my hand on Darry's shoulder and whispered, "Hey Dar, I have to go, make sure ya'll keep Johnny company. Come find me if anything happens." He nodded towards me and I vacated the room.

I sighed heading over back to the nurses' station. I found Jennifer quickly and walked over to her.

"I don't really know how to say this…"

"Spit it out Curtis."

"One of my friends was checked in tonight. I kind of dismissed work to make sure he was okay. I'm willing to work extra hours tonight to make up for-"

Jennifer cut me off, "You man the desk, and we'll forget it ever happened."

I laughed, "Thanks Jen."

"Don't mention it," she said, "no, seriously, don't mention it." She winked and then left down the hallway.

Manning the desk was something no one wanted to do. You had to sit in the same spot for hours and deal with worried people and stressful situations. Getting cussed out while manning the desk was common and even expected. Not to mention the piles upon piles of paperwork.

So there I sat for another five or so hours until finally my shift was done.

Jennifer returned later, "Curtis, get out of here, go home, get some shut-eye."

I supplied a thanks and headed to Johnny's room once more before I left.

I opened the door quietly and saw Johnny asleep. Dally was sitting in the corner of the room, opening and shutting his switchblade. When he saw me, he put the knife away.

"Hey Dal," I offered, "Everyone else go home?"

He nodded, "Just me and Johnny here for tonight."

I smiled, "sounds like a party."

Dal smirked. "Well," I said, "Thanks for staying with Johnnycake, I better be heading home, I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Dal nodded. I started to leave and then turned around again, "and Dal? Thanks for helping me out earlier."

He didn't respond for a couple of seconds and then said, "Any time, Curtis."

A/N: There we have it, chapter 3. This is shorter than the other ones, sorry. Also, sorry if the medical bits are completely off, I have no knowledge in that area. If anyone has knowledge on that subject, I am interested! I didn't get back to Soda yet, but it will be there eventually I promise. There was a lot of Dally in this chapter, what did ya'll think? I also noticed that I haven't had much of Steve in here at all, I'm not sure why, but that will hopefully change. Thanks for reading, and if you would like to leave a review to help out little old me (goodness knows I could use all the help I can get) I would be much obliged.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I still do not own _The Outsiders _

A/N: Queen Lucy of Awesomeness, LoVeLiFe17, and especially sunkissedchris, thank you so much. You really made my day! I also want to apologize for not updating sooner, my internet was down, but I won't make excuses for myself.

Enough chit-chat, there is a story to be told…

I arrived home a little bit before for midnight from my shift at the hospital. When I went indoors I was surprised to find Darry sitting in the living room still awake.

"What are you still doing up? You've got work tomorrow."

"Can't sleep, I think I might have busted my back again."

"Dar, how many times do I have to tell you? Quit trying to be superman at work," I joked, "You're too young to be aching like an old man."

I sat down beside him on the couch and slipped my shoes off with a relieved sigh. I started massaging my swollen feet.

"You alright?" Dar asked staring at the foot I had in my hand.

"I should probably buy new shoes," I said. We both sat in silence both knowing we probably couldn't afford any.

Darry finally broke the uneasy silence caused by fatigue, "I couldn't stay at the hospital long, how's Johnnycake?"

I sighed, "He'll be alright in time; he's a tough kid. I'm just worried about how he'll recuperate in his house."

Darry nodded knowingly, "We could let him stay here, if he agrees to it of course."

"I've been thinking about that, I'm just worried we wouldn't be able to…"

"afford it?" Darry asked looking directly at me now.

I frowned, "That sounds horrible. Johnny need us, we'll make due."

"You know that's starting to sound nice, having Johnny around. He's really polite."

I joked, "In comparison to Pony and Soda sure."

Darry laughed and then said, "Have you noticed something off with them?"

"Both of them?" I inquired, "Poor Soda, I know he's dying to talk to me about getting a job, I haven't gotten around to it yet. What's up with Pony."

"He seems kind of lost."

"I really don't know anymore Dar, I really don't know," I said in the midst of a yawn.

Darry quickly followed suit and yawned as well. "That's when you know it's time for bed," Darry stated.

"I won't see you until late tomorrow, make sure to boys eat breakfast," I reminded Darry even though he already knew.

I hugged Darry and he accepted the embrace, wrapping his arms around me. "No problem, sis."

"Thanks little brother."

XXX

Still half asleep, I made my way to the kitchen. I was too tired to make anything, and didn't want to wake up the rest of the house on a Sunday, so I settled for a bowl of cereal. With my grumbling stomach taken care of I changed into my uniform for work and gathered my things. I didn't get two steps into the living room before I stumbled on a shoe soda had left lying carelessly on the ground and ran into the couch before steadying myself.

"You alright?" said Steve, who unknown to me, was sleeping on the couch.

I audibly gasped in surprise. "Man, I didn't know I was that ugly," he joked.

"No, no, you just surprised me is all, go back to sleep, it's way too early for anyone to be up."

"You're up," He stated.

"Comes with the job. Anyway, I have to be going, when everyone wakes up, tell Soda to watch where he leaves his stuff," I said holding up the shoe and then tossing it by the door as I left before calling out , "See you later," to Steve.

I arrived at work early as intended and made my way to Johnny's room quickly before having to start my shift. Johnny was asleep in the bed as expected and Dal was still sitting in the corner. I couldn't decide if he was asleep or not so I went closer to him and peered at his face. His eyes fluttered open and when he saw me there was something in them I couldn't quite detect. Surprise? Anger? Sadness?

"Man, Linda, you really know how to give a guy a heart attack."

"Sorry Dal, I didn't know you were asleep."

He simply nodded, "How's Johnny doing."

I looked over at Johnny on the bed and said sheepishly, "I haven't checked yet."

I walked over to Johnny's bed and started checking all of his monitors. "He looks good, he'll probably get to go home tonight, has Hansen said that?"

"If that's the doc, then yes."

I nodded, "good. I've been thinking about having Johnny come stay with us for awhile. Do you think he'd go for that?"

Dally shrugged, "I can't say if he'll accept, but it sure would be better for him."

I nodded and sat down on the chair of the arm beside Dally.

I looked at Dallas seriously and said, "should I let Soda quit school?"

Dallas furrowed his brow, "your parents wouldn't have."

I nodded unsure of what to say.

"Linda, why of all people would you ask me?"

I smiled, "because, I already know how Darry stands, Two-Bit's got the biggest mouth in Tulsa, the rest of the gang is too young, and besides them, you're the only friend I got."

Dallas looked to me and smirked, "Glad to know I'm wanted Curtis."

Out of everyone I know, which isn't actually all that many people, only two people call me Curtis: my boss, and Dallas Winston.

XXX

"Linda!"

I turned around and saw my friend Patrick Henderson. He was one of the bookkeepers for the hospital. He didn't come into the hospital that often, but we still managed to become good friends anyway.

"Patrick!" I said walking towards him, "how've you been?"

I hugged him and he said, "good you?"

I smiled, "great. Hey you want to go grab coffee or something when my shift is over?"

"Sounds like a gas," he said, "look I have to go, where should I meet you?"

"Room 317," I said indicating towards Johnny's room, "3:00."

XXX

The rest of my shift went by uneventfully. I listened to a cranky old woman complain and cared for a 4 year old who accidently swallowed a quarter. When 2:30 finally rolled around I said goodbye to Jennifer and headed to Johnny's room. When I got inside Two-Bit was talking loudly with Johnny and Pony was sitting in the corner laughing at Two-Bit.

"Hey Pone," I nodded towards Two-Bit, "Two-Bit."

Two-Bit smiled in my direction. "And Johnny," I added, "How are you doing?"

He shrugged and then winced at the sudden movement of his shoulders. "Careful," I warned him, "So Johnnycake, you get to go home today, you excited?"

He frowned. "Well I'm glad to be leaving this hospital," he said bitterly.

Johnny wasn't one to say things with bitterness, but I couldn't say I didn't blame him.

"Well look at you!" Two-Bit laughed.

"Shut it Two-Bit," I snapped.

"Hey how are we getting home later?" Pony asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked curious, "where's your car?" I said towards Two-Bit.

"I need Steve to fix it, it's broke again."

Pony laughed, "surprise surprise."

"Hey watch it hotshot, you don't exactly got the nicest wheels in town."

"Of course not, I'm a greaser," Pony laughed.

"And you're thirteen," I said ruffling his hair.

He shooed my hand away. I smirked at him and added, "I'll stop back here in an hour, and give everyone a ride home, sound good?"

Everyone nodded. "Hey Linda," Two-Bit added, "Where you going anyway? Ain't your shift over?"

"I smiled, "yeah it is, I'm meeting up with a friend though."

Just then Patrick there was a knock on the door. I swiftly opened it and found Patrick standing there.

"Hey Linda," he poked his head in the door and added with a confused expression, "hey guys."

I gave him a look that said, 'I'll explain later.'

Two-Bit laughed and said, "Linda, you never told us you had a boyfriend!"

I looked at Patrick with an embarrassment written all over my face. "Oh we're not..." I trailed off, "Oh never mind."

Two-Bit smirked, "have fun, we'll see you later."

Once out of the hospital and away from the Two-Bit I said, "Sorry about all of that."

Patrick laughed, ""No problem, besides why would I be upset about having a beautiful girl like you mistaken for my girlfriend?"

I blushed, "thanks Patrick."

We continued walking to the café down the street.

"So who are those guys anyway?" Patrick asked intrigued.

"Well, you remember me mentioning my brothers and the rest of the gang right?" He nodded. "Well the loud mouth is Two-Bit, the injured one is Johnny, and the other one is Ponyboy, my youngest brother."

He nodded in understanding, "Why's Johnny in the hospital?"

I frowned, "Socs."

Even though Patrick was middle class and had been his entire life, he understood the soc and greaser rivalry.

I enjoyed the rest of coffee with Patrick. It seemed like we never saw enough of each other and everytime we were together, it felt right. It's hard finding good friends these days.

A/N: Alright, I know that was basically filler. I'm sorry; hopefully I will be able to post another chapter with less of a delay than last time.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: No, _The Outsiders_ still isn't mine.

A/N: I have so many ideas for this story and yet it seems like it's moving so slowly! Queen Lucy of Awesomeness, Thanks, and I'm pretty jealous that you have access to at school. Sunkissedchris, once again, your review brightens my day, thank you so much!

Let's do this…

"Patrick again, it was so great talking to you."

We were standing outside the hospital again. I was bidding Patrick good day once more before returning to the stark white walls and the stuffy atmosphere that was the hospital.

"You too Linda, we should do this more often."

I watched him walk towards his car for a moment before turning on my heel, entering the building and heading to find the boys.

When I arrived in the room Johnny was the only one present. He was in the bed with his eyes closed, but from the way his eyes shot open the instant he heard me enter, I knew he hadn't been asleep.

"Hey Linda!" Johnny smiled a rare smile.

"Hey Johnnycake, are you ready?"

He sighed and then said, "I guess."

I handed him his jeans and pulled the curtain shut so he could change in peace.

"Look Johnny, I've been thinking," I said, "I was wondering if you would come stay with us for a while. It might be good since you're recuperating and I'm a nurse and all."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Positive," I confirmed. He pulled the curtain back and looked at me with a big smile.

I laughed and gave him a hug gently. Johnny and I had always been pretty close. I met him when he was 6 and I was 13. I was in the middle of a very maternal phase which every little girl goes through at one point or another. Pony had brought him home to play after school one day. I was always bossing Pony around when mom and dad left me in charge and Johnny, being 6, took that as a sign that I was someone he should listen to. Johnny always listened to me; he always listened to everyone for that matter. I thought he was the cutest little kid I'd ever seen. The rest of the gang treated him as their pet too.

Our relationship really grew one night when I was 16. I had been coming home from a party late one night when I saw Johnny sitting by himself in the empty lot. It was close to midnight. I got out of my car and sat by little 9 year old Johnny. His cheek was bleeding. I knew what went on at his house, but we had never talked about it before. "Johnny what are you doing out here all by yourself?" He continued looking at the ground. I pulled his chin up to look at me and I saw tears in his eyes. "Come on, you're coming to my house." I helped him up and we drove off to my house.

Ever since then I looked after Johnny like I would my own younger brother and even more so now that I took on the role of parent with my own brothers.

"Thank you Linda," he smiled. "No problem Johnnycake." I pulled his t-shirt over his head so he wouldn't have to risk messing up his ribs.

"Well, I guess, there's no reason to stay around here anymore," I laughed.

Johnny started to stand up and I stopped him. "Whoa there, no walking for you," I said steadying him and directing him to a wheelchair.

"Really? Is a wheelchair necessary?" He asked incredulously.

I laughed, "Sorry, it's protocol."

I pushed Johnny out into the lobby and went to the front desk to tell the staff we were leaving. Two-Bit and pony found us again and started pushing the wheelchair Johnny was in chaotically.

"Hey, knock it off," I said sternly. Everyone knew that when I sounded like that, you were to do what I was saying. They cut it out real quick.

I turned back to the person at the desk who told me we were free to go. "Thanks Donna," I replied, "see you tomorrow."

Pony started pushing the wheelchair calmly this time.

"That's more like it," I said giving Two-Bit a look.

Pony grinned sheepishly, "sorry Linda."

I smiled at Pony silently telling him it was alright.

Two-Bit helped Johnny into the car while Pony ran the wheelchair back to the hospital, and then they both piled into the back.

I started the car and Two-Bit said, "So Linda…"

I turned up the radio until I couldn't hear Two-Bit anymore. I looked at Johnny in the passenger seat who was laughing. I started laughing too and turned the radio down.

"What was that for?" Two-Bit whined in a fake childish voice.

"I just can't deal with hearing you flap your trap all the time," I said pretending to be angry with him.

I looked back and saw that Two-Bit had the funniest expression on his face I had ever seen. I busted out laughing as we pulled into the driveway.

When we arrived inside the rest of the gang was there goofing off.

"What took ya'll so long?" soda asked while wrestling with Steve. Steve took that moment to put Soda in a headlock.

"Linda was out with her boyfriend!" Two-Bit exclaimed.

Soda sat up and looked at me confused. Darry stopped what he was doing and turned to look at us.

"Two-Bit," I punched him playfully in the arm, "How many times do I have to tell you, he's not my boyfriend."

"That's not what I see when he looks at you."

"Two-Bit," I said his name again for emphasis, "You're crazy. No wonder your sister doesn't like talking to you." I saw Pony blush; there was something I was missing here. There were multiple things I was missing here.

Two-Bit frowned at me. I smirked at him. "Pony," I called to my youngest brother, "can you go make sure Soda's old room is alright and put some clothes in there."

He looked up at me questioningly, "who for?"

I gave him a 'just do what I say' kind of look. Johnny was looking off to one side, trying not to be noticed I presume. Dally came and sat by Johnny who looked up at his presence. They started exchanging words too low for anyone to hear.

"So who cooked dinner?" I asked the room once I smelled food in the kitchen.

"Soda did," Darry replied. Pony walked back in the room just in time to hear that and groan loudly.

"Well then, Pony just for that, you get to do the dishes," I said.

"I always do the dishes," Pony remarked.

Darry laughed, "Well that seems like a pretty good deal then."

"Why don't you all go ahead and eat?" I said nodding my head in the direction of the kitchen.

Everyone jumped up to go into the kitchen. "Except you Soda, I have to talk to you," I said pulling him back by his shoulder. I waited and watched as Dally helped Johnny up and Johnny assured him he was fine. Once they were in the kitchen, I pulled Soda out onto the front porch.

"Yes?" he asked tentatively.

"I wanted to talk to you about what you said the other night about getting a job."

His face lit up with recognition, "Are you going to let me?"

"You can get a job if you want, it might be good for you."

"And quitting school?"

I sighed, "I think you can tough it out until you graduate."

"Linda, you don't understand. I'm not smart like you."

"Soda, I know you can do it."

He frowned and looked away from me.

"Soda, do you think I like seeing you upset? I don't. I wish I could just let you quit school, but I know mom and dad wouldn't have let you and right now that's all I know."

Soda seemed to be contemplating the situation. "Fine, but I'm not happy about it." He said it jokingly, but I could tell underneath that he really was truly unhappy and it distressed me to see my brother so hurt.

A/N: There we have it, another short chapter. The changes from the book are starting to emerge and there are only more changes ahead!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Still belongs to S.E. Hinton.

A/N: LoVeLiFe17 and sunkissedchris I adore your reviews! That's really all there is to it. I don't have much to say, so let's not dawdle or delay.

To the story…

"Sodapop," I laughed, "chew with your mouth closed. We wouldn't want you turning into Two-Bit over there."

"Who me?" Two-Bit said with a mouth full of food. We all busted out laughing.

Tonight was one of the rare occasions when the whole gang was in the house eating dinner and just having a good time together. Usually I was at work, Dar was at work, Soda and Steve were out, or Dally was being scarce. But tonight, this Sunday night was nice.

Soda began to juggle his silverware. Steve soon did the same. "Hey Two," Steve cried, "Pass me some another fork will you?"

Soda seeing that Steve had outshined him called for Pony but Pony was already tossing a spoon his way.

Both started to struggle with the three pieces of now very uneven utensils. It was only a matter of time before- Clash! Steve dropped the silverware he had been juggling.

"Oh, that's right Steve!" Soda cheered, "In your face!"

"Shit man," Steve laughed, "who knew you were so good at juggling silverware."

Soda smiled, "Steve let's just face it, I'm better than you at everything."

"Not fixing cars," Two-Bit pointed out.

Soda frowned knowing he had no argument for that. "Thanks buddy," Steve said to Two-Bit.

"No problem," Two-Bit said and then added nonchalantly, "Want to fix my car?"

We all laughed. "I knew there had to be a reason behind it; you want me to fix your piece of shit car again."

"So will you?" Two-Bit grinned.

"What's in it for me?" Steve asked.

"A hug?" Two-Bit tried hopefully. Dally scoffed and helped Two-Bit out by grabbing the unopened beer in front of Two-Bit and handing it to Steve, "how about a beer?"

"That's more like it," Steve said taking a swig.

"If anyone asks, I know nothing," I said knowing I wouldn't be able to stop anyone besides my brothers from drinking, hell; Two-Bit had been drinking for years.

Just then Deborah appeared in the doorway. She looked a little wary to be in a room with the whole gang. I made sure she always felt welcome, but a part of me thinks that even though her brother was one of our best pals, if I wasn't here she wouldn't come over as often.

"Hey Deb, what're you doing here?" Two-Bit asked casually.

"You said you'd come home, but you didn't show, and mom's at work."

I knew Debbie didn't like being home alone even though she was forced to stay home a lot. This was part of the reason why I always let Debbie know she could come over here whenever she wanted.

"Oh sorry, Debbie, my car broke down again," Two-Bit said sincerely for once in his life. Steve snorted.

"Did you walk here by yourself?" Darry asked.

"Yeah, it's only like two blocks," she anwered.

"Next time call, we'll send this bum over to get you," I said punching Two-Bit lightly on the shoulder. She nodded.

I went to get her a plate of food and told her to sit down. She blushed fiercely seeing as the only available seat was next to Ponyboy. Debbie really was a pretty girl; she had red curly hair, a small frame, and dark eyes. I smiled and placed the plate down in front of her. She made no move to eat it.

The gang all started talking again and the room returned to its normal decibel level. Soda however remained silent watching Pony who was shifting awkwardly in his seat. Soda caught my gaze and smiled knowingly. He has always been the perceptive one.

Slowly the plates were put away and people started drifting into the other room. The T.V. was turned on at one point. The radio was also turned on. A game of Poker was started and general merriment commenced.

Pretty soon, all of the guys started to leave. Steve and Dal left first. Two-Bit got up to leave soon after and Debbie stood up from where she was sitting next Pony.

"Bye Debbie," Pony said quietly. Deborah smiled shyly and waved. Two-Bit slung his arm around his sister's shoulder and they walked out the front.

"Alright guys, "I said amidst a yawn, "I'm beat, I'm going to go hit the hay; and don't stay up too late it's a school night."

Soda gave me a thumbs up sign before plopping down onto the couch next to Pony.

I was halfway down the hall when I heard Soda say, "So Debbie's pretty tuff."

It was just like Sodapop to be the one to give Ponyboy some brotherly advice.

XXX

I was laying in my bad half awake, willing myself to go back to sleep when my alarm clock rang loudly. I groaned, hit the alarm clock in an effort to cease the offending noise, and slowly got out of bed.

I dressed casually in some jeans and an old t-shirt knowing that I didn't have to go into work until after lunch. My hours were very scattered. I walked into the kitchen and started cooking some eggs. I pulled my hair into a ponytail annoyed with it for falling in my face repeatedly. Darry walked into the kitchen and took the spatula away from me and continued cooking.

"Thanks," I said patting him on the shoulder.

"You've got to wake up the boys," he laughed, "I got the good end of the deal here."

I laughed knowing it was true and kicked in Pony and Soda's door.

"Morning sunshine!" I said happily while pulling the curtains to their window and letting the sun stream in.

Pony who, by the looks of it hadn't actually been asleep in while, rolled out of bed.

"One down, one to go," I said sarcastically.

Pony frowned at me and grabbed some clothes on his way to the bathroom.

I pushed Soda over so I could sit down next to him on the bed. I leaned close and whispered into his ear.

"Soda," I said quietly into his ear.

I repeated his name louder, "Sodapop!"

He started to stir, "Soda," I said and leaned on him laying my arm on his stomach, "Time to wake up." He shrugged my arm from him and groaned annoyed.

I stood up and said, "you better be awake when I come back."

Pony had emerged from the bathroom while I walked into the kitchen. He was now fully dressed and his hair was now heavily greased. I ran my hand through his hair and said, "Really Pony? You could grease a car with all the grease in your hair."

He shooed my hand away. "You're messing it up," he complained.

I laughed and went to go talk to Darry. He had already eaten, left food on the table, and was on his way out of the house.

"Bye Darry, I'll see you later," I said giving him a hug before he walked out the door.

"Bye Pone," He called on the way out the door.

Pony nodded to his now retreating older brother. "Hey Pony, food is on the table," I told him when I saw him just sitting on the couch not doing anything productive.

I walked back into Soda's room and yelled, "Soda, you're in for it now!"

I jumped next to him on the bed and started tickling his sides.

He started laughing and fell off the bed. "Alright alright I'm up!" he said through laughter. I chased him out of the room and he escaped into the bathroom. I heard him turn on the water and started laughing.

"Pony?" I asked, "Did you eat?"

H nodded but I didn't believe him.

"What did you eat?"

He cautiously said, "toast?"

"Wrong answer," I said, "eggs are on the table. Go. Now."

He groaned, stood up, and went to go do what I had told him. Just then Johnny emerged from the room and was leaning on one wall.

"Sorry Johnny, did we wake you?"

He sort of half nodded.

"Sorry, you know us, never quiet. You can go back to bed, no one expects you to go to school for awhile."

I looked at Johnny. He was already frail to begin with but now looked even more so due to the socs. I was actually surprised he was even up walking around in his condition. That kid sure could take a beating. With that thought, I winced thinking of all the crap he had to endure in his life.

Just then, Johnny frowned probably thinking I had winced at his appearance instead of my own thoughts.

I sighed. "Why don't you go back to bed and get some rest," I said full of sympathy, "Call for me if you need anything."

Johnny slowly turned and went back into the other room looking very tired. I pounded on the door to the bathroom. "Hurry up Soda, your ride will be here any minute." I heard Soda shut off the water and like clockwork, Steve and Two-Bit came banging through the front door.

"Good morning Curtises!" Two-Bit exclaimed gleefully. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Pony are you ready to go?" I yelled into the kitchen.

Pony ran into his bedroom and returned to the living room now holding his books. Soda then came out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

"Soda, please, try to keep yourself clothed," I said jokingly. He flashed a wide grin and disappeared into his room before rematerializing later fully clothed.

With everyone ready to go I said a quickly, "Everybody grab some food on your way out!"

"Have fun at school everyone," I added lamely before hugging both of my brothers. I promptly was shooed away and they were out the door leaving with time to kill.

A/N: Hooray! Another chapter is up. Writing this is bringing me great joy. I want to thank anyone who is reading or reviewing, you're the best!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: _The Outsiders_ belongs to S.E. Hinton.

A/N: LoVeLiFe17, sunkissedchris, and Ponyboyandscout thank you so much for your reviews. I want to apologize to anyone reading for not updating in a timely manner. If everyone has given up on me, I don't blame anyone but myself; it has been a terribly long time. Because the year is getting into full swing, updates will be scarcer, but I am determined; I will not give up on this story!

Let us begin…

"Guess What?" Soda exclaimed.

I turned to him surprised at how quickly Soda, Steve, Two-Bit, and Pony had gotten home and into the house.

"What?" I asked amidst a laugh.

"I got a job!"

"How?" I asked disbelieved.

His smile vanished assumedly because he thought I had doubted his ability to get hired.

"I mean," I stammered, "where?"

His smile returned. Steve jumped in, "the place with the greatest mechanic in town!"

I raised my eyebrows in question, "let me guess, the DX?"

Soda nodded excitedly probably due to the thought of getting paid to hang out with his best friend at work.

"I didn't even know you applied," I said proudly.

He beamed, "I hadn't planned on it until lunch when Steve saw his boss, I asked for a job and showed him I could do it."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Well," Two-Bit jumped up, "I think this calls for a celebration!"

"Here here!" Steve added.

I smiled, "well, I have to go to work."

"Boo!" Pony yelled.

"But" I cut him off, "I get back at 7, and so does Dar. Have some fun without us, you hear?"

"Have fun? That's a new one," Two-Bit laughed.

I walloped him on the side of the head jokingly and made a motion to leave.

I turned back around and added, "Say bye to Johnny for me, he's in the other room."

They all nodded and I smiled and added, "alright, bye guys. Don't do anything stupid."

XXX

Carrying my purse and a couple of bags of groceries, I noisily opened the front door and set everything down on the kitchen table.

"Hello?" I called out, surprised that the house was empty.

Hearing no reply, I went into Soda and Pony's room. It was a disaster area as always, but I found neither of my brothers.

I walked onto the porch and saw Darry's truck in the driveway. I started walking down the street knowing that if Darry wasn't home and his car was in the driveway, the gang had walked somewhere. As suspected I found my brothers in the lot playing football.

Darry tossed the ball to Pony and he started running, faster than anything I'd seen before.

"Go Pone!" I yelled, and he turned his head and smiled at me before making a touchdown.

It wasn't much of a game. Steve and Soda were on one side and Darry and Pony were on the other. Johnny was sitting off on the sidelines. The game collapsed when I showed up.

"Having fun without me I see," I said putting an arm around Johnny.

Soda laughed, "Aren't we always?"

"Whoa, watch it there little buddy," I said smiling.

"So what do ya'll want to do now?" Steve asked.

"You know, since Linda can't play football," Two-Bit added.

I shot Two-Bit a glare and then proceeded to laugh. It was true; I couldn't play football to save my life, but I could run; I was almost as fast as Ponyboy. It's too bad there wasn't track team for girls in high school.

"Well, I'm hungry," Soda laughed.

"What's new?" Pony said sarcastically.

Pony isn't known to be all that talkative, but he has his moments.

We all started to laugh and Steve suggested the Dingo. Eve though, it was more of a teenage hang out, we probably couldn't afford anything else, so I agreed and we walked back to the house and piled into the truck.

XXX

A peppy blond waitress came up to our table and said, "Hi my name is Jill, I'll be your waitress today."

She looked directly at Soda and said seductively, "What can I get you today?"

Soda gave one of smiles and the waitress bit her lip. We ordered and the waitress left still flustered.

Steve started to laugh and clapped Soda on the back.

Darry shook his head at them.

"What?" Soda asked, "I didn't do anything."

We all laughed at Soda, oblivious to his charms.

"You know Soda, with looks like yours, you could…" started Two-Bit.

"Hey now," I cut him off, "don't be coaching my little brother on how to get girls."

"Like he needs help," Pony said bitterly.

I shrugged knowing it was true then smiled at Pony who didn't realize just how much he looked like Soda.

"Lay off guys, "Soda added, "Besides I'm with Sandy anyway.

"'Yeah, Sandy…" I said.

I didn't really like her. I knew her cousin, Donna, from the hospital who I didn't really like either. I tried to hide my disapproval for Soda's sake. I'm positive he wasn't buying it.

Soda frowned and Darry gave me a look. Two-Bit either sensing the tension or just wanting to hear himself talk said rudely, "where is that waitress with our food?"

I gave him a somewhat disapproving look. He threw his hands up in the air, "What did I do?"

"That waitress has a name," Steve mock nagged him.

"Oh yeah, what is her name Steve?" Two-Bit asked.

Steve stammered, "uh…It was…"

They all turned to me and I shrugged not remembering.

"It was Jill," Johnny said.

We all looked over at him surprised.

"Johnny's got his eye on the waitress!" Soda exclaimed.

I told Soda to be quieter as Johnny looked down awkwardly.

Two-Bit whispered something into Johnny's ear that I couldn't hear. Johnny's eyes widened and he avoided everyone's gaze. Beside him Pony was blushing.

"Everyone knows you're the one who likes blonds," Steve said and joined Soda in laughing.

"Two-Bit!" I chastised," How about we not traumatize the children, yeah?"

Johnny and Pony looked up at me hurt at being called children.

"And by children, I definitely mean, these two bums over here," I said indicating Soda and Steve.

"Hey!" Soda yelled.

I merely ignored him and looked over at Darry who was shaking his head and smiling.

"We're getting to old for this." I explained.

Just then a bunch of people started yelling at the other side of the restaurant.

"I'm also too old to have to listen to an idiot like that," I said pointing at a greaser running around cursing.

"Linda, take a closer look," Steve said.

I looked at him quizzically.

"That isn't just any idiot," Two-Bit said and then added fondly, "that's our idiot!"

I looked at the boy again and realized it was none other than Dallas Winston.

I sighed, "What's he doing now?"

"He heard Sylvia was cheating on him with some guy named Brian Olsen," Two-Bit explained.

Brian Olsen. For some reason, that name rang a bell, and then I remembered. I had met Brian in the hospital. At the time I was a little bit annoyed because Jennifer assigned Donna to work in the surgery room with Doctor Hansen and I was assigned to babysit, what we call making sure the family of the patients are okay. Everyone knows that Donna is way too emotional to be a nurse, but Jennifer was peeved at me for arguing with her earlier in the day so I had no choice but to go console the family. The patient was named Valarie Reed and she had liver cancer.

I remember walking into the hospital waiting room and calling for the family of Valarie Reed. A tiny scrap of a kid raised his hand and said "that's me." His name was Brian Olsen. I sat down with him and comforted him while he cried.

This was his story: Valarie and her husband, Brian's father, constantly fought because he was always cheating on her with sluts and whores. When Brian turned three, his father finally skipped town leaving Brian and his mom with nothing and no means of income. For awhile, Brian and his mother often moved around a lot living in cheap motels and staying in homeless shelters when they could. Later on, they found themselves here, greaser territory in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Valarie turned to the oldest profession for money and promptly became the classic example of an alcoholic. Brian had been neglected ever since.

You would think coming from a bad home and living on the streets of Tulsa would make a kid like Brian cold, but it didn't. It made him more vulnerable. I knew Brian and I knew Sylvia. If Sylvia and Brian were together, Sylvia was to blame. Brian reminded me a lot of Johnny and I wasn't about to let Dallas Winston beat up someone who reminded me of Johnnycakes.

I climbed over Darry and hopped out of the booth lacking all grace. I ran up to Dally before I could think about what I was doing. I grabbed his arm and dragged him away from his path towards Brian.

"Hey! What are you doing?" He yelled at me as I pulled him to a corner of the restaurant away from others.

"What am I doing? What are you doing?" I exclaimed back at him.

"What I always do, you've never stopped me before," he said.

"Well this time I know the kid you were about to pound."

"Why does that make a difference?"

"He didn't do anything."

Dally rolled his eyes, "does it matter?"

"Do you hear yourself? You're as bad as the socs. I see kids who are broken and bleeding everyday from socs and punks like you. If everyone stopped to ask themselves if the kids they were beating on were innocent or not maybe Johnny wouldn't be in this mess," I said passionately.

Before that moment, I hadn't stopped to think about where I was or what I was doing. For a split second, I thought Dally was going to sock me one, but I knew deep down he would never hit a girl and much more he'd never hit me, his friend. His eyes changed and for a moment he softened, but only for a moment.

Dally quickly turned and yelled to Sylvia, "We're through, you hear? And if I ever find out who you were cheating on me with, he's as good as dead!"

I knew what Dally was saying wasn't true, but he had to keep appearances. Just like Sylvia had to keep up appearances as she strutted out of the Dingo as if she didn't have a care in the world. Brian was already gone, most likely scared out of his mind.

Dal looked back at me one more time as if to say, "happy?"

"Thank you Dally," I said, "That really meant a lot to me."

"Why, Linda?"

"I met him at the hospital," I said.

"What, is he dying?"

After all these years of knowing Dal I could still be shocked at his insensitivity sometimes. "No, but his mom, just died, he's has no one. He's just been through a lot."

Dally looked at me as if he understood and then said, "This is the greaser's side of town. We've all been through shit."

XXX

Later that night, after everyone had left our house after the Dingo, my brothers, Johnny, and I were sitting in the living room.

"What a night," Johnny said.

"I thought we were going to see a fight," Soda said.

"You know Pony, it takes a lot more courage to walk away from a fight like Dal did than to start one," I said.

Darry smiled and nodded his head slowly.

"I just can't believe you talked to Dal like that," Pony said in awe, "No one does that."

"Well, Linda has known him for a lot longer than you have, it's different," Darry said.

It wasn't true. Dally listening to me had nothing to do with the fact that we'd known each other for a long time. Dally respected that I empathized with that boy because he also lost his parents. Dally respected my parents. Dally respected me.

A/N: There we go, a nice long chapter after a horrid absence of updates. Hopefully that won't happen again and this story will get finished. I am crossing my fingers.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: _The Outsiders_ does not belong to me

A/N: Thank you LoVeLiFe17 for your review. You're so insightful! Queen Lucy of Awesomeness, thanks for your review as well. Both of your reviews really keep me motivated, and for that I am forever grateful.

Onward…

What with work at the hospital, keeping my brothers on track when it came to school, and helping Johnnycakes, it had been a long week and I was forever grateful for the fact that it was Friday.

"Linda!" Soda yelled running through the door.

"Oh Soda you're home," I said sarcastically, "You were so quiet I didn't even hear you come in."

"Yeah yeah," He said, "something happened, I got to tell you."

"What?" I said exasperated at his yelling.

"Do you know where Pony is?"

"Soda, where's your brother?" I said now in a panic.

His eyes widened in realization, "Oh no, don't worry. He's fine, he's at the library."

I sighed, "Then why the hell are you so excited?"

Soda ignored the fact that I was now getting angry and continued on, "Guess who Pony is with?"

"Soda, spit it out!"

"Pony and Debbie are hanging out at the library. Isn't that adorable?" Soda said, "Our little dork has found another little dork friend."

I digressed into my inner teenage girl and forgot that I was angry with Soda a couple of minutes ago. Soda and I always did this when we talked about our little Pony.

"Really? Aw, that's great," I said.

Soda and I both sat there happy for our little brother until I remembered something.

"Hey where's the rest of the gang?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Well, you have to go find Two-Bit, he'll ruin everything," I yelled.

"You think?" Soda asked. Two-Bit lived to make fun of others. I looked at him incredulously and Soda promptly got up of the sofa and headed toward the door.

Soda opened the door and as if on cue ran right into Two-Bit Matthews followed closely behind by Steve.

"Speak of the devil," I laughed.

"Who me?" Two-Bit asked with mock surprise.

"None other," soda laughed.

"Well, I know I'm pretty great, but what were you talking about me for?" Two-Bit asked.

I looked over at Soda and he had a blank face.

Two-Bit laughed, "Worried I'm going to go ruin things for Pony and Deb?"

I looked at him surprised.

"Oh come on, I'm not a ditz," Two-Bit laughed, "Of course I know. I've decided that my kid sister's bound to find a guy sometime. If that boy's Pony, then I won't have to worry about it none."

I shrugged knowing it was true. Ponyboy was probably the most kind-hearted greaser you could find.

"Well, I'm sure the kid'll be relieved to know you're not going to skin him once you find out," Steve said.

Two-Bit guffawed, "where's the fun in that? I'm not going to let him get off that easy, I'll make him think he's going to get it. The kid better tell me."

I laughed, "Don't be too hard on my kid brother Two-Bit."

I smiled knowing Two-Bit is probably the best friend Pony could have and that Pony was finally becoming sure of himself.

XXX

"Hey, where have you been?" I said as Pony came in the house later

"Library," he said, "I was studying."

Steve snorted.

"What's so funny about that?" Pony asked.

"Well the first thing I think when a guy tells me he's 'studying' is that he's off with some skirt," Steve said while Pony blushed, "but then I remembered that it was you talking and there was no way."

"Why are you blushing Pony?" Soda asked.

"Well," Pony said, "I'm actually glad Steve brought this up. I've been meaning to tell you something Two-Bit."

Two-Bit raised one of his eyebrows and waited for Pony to continue.

"Uhm…" he stuttered, "Deborah and I are dating."

"Deborah?" Two-Bit paused for dramatic effect, "My Debbie? My baby sister? Pony boy Curtis, you're telling me that you're dating my sister?"

By this point Two-Bit had gotten up in Pony's face and Pony's eyes had gone wide.

Pony swallowed noisily and then answered in a questioning tone, "yes?"

Two-Bit stared hard at Ponyboy for a moment, raised his arm as if he were about to punch him and then swiftly lowered his arm, clapped Pony on the back and started laughing.

"I'm glad," Two-Bit said simply.

As Pony realized what was going his brows furrowed and he said, "Two-Bit! How could you do that to me? I thought you were going to clobber me!"

"Nah, I could never lay a hand on you kid, "Two-Bit said, "I'm too fond of you. You have my blessing."

Pony sighed exasperatedly and left the room yelling to Johnny who was in the other room, "You are never going to believe what these clowns did now…"

We all looked at each other and laughed. It was times like this that reminded me there was more than just hardships on the east side of Tulsa, there were plenty of opportunities to mess with your kid brother as well as two kids experiencing young love.

A/N: This was basically just fluff, but I felt it needed to be said; there will be more heavy stuff later. Well, maybe. I want to thank Sunkissedchris for the bit about Pony being one of the most kind-hearted greasers; I think I quoted that directly from a review. Again, I love love love feedback; it helps immensely.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: _The Outsiders_ belongs to S.E. Hinton and _Nothing Gold can Stay_ belongs to Robert Frost.

A/N: LoVeLiFe17, I'm honored that you are enjoying my story so much! Thanks for your review. From here on out, the story is going to start to reflect the events of the book a bit more. It won't be exactly the same though; I'm taking some artistic liberties here.

Allons-y…

I was sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper when Johnny quietly came in the room and sat down beside me.

"Hey Johnnycakes, you're up early on a Saturday," I commented.

"I wanted to talk to you before everyone else got up."

"Oh?" I asked, "What about?"

"Well, I haven't been to school in a while," he said, "but Pony's been bringing me my schoolwork."

I waited for him to continue.

"I don't understand. Can you help me?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"English."

"English isn't my strongest suit, but I can try."

Johnny frowned as he placed a paper on the table. I picked up the paper; it read: _Nothing Gold can Stay _by Robert Frost

I looked back at Johnny who was looking at me, waiting. I read the poem.

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down today

Nothing gold can stay.

"What's the assignment?" I asked Johnny.

"It says to analyze the theme, what does that mean?"

"Well," I began, "When it says to analyze the theme, it's pretty much asking you to explain the poem. Is there anything in the poem you don't understand?"

"How can green be gold? And how can a leaf be a flower?"

"He doesn't mean that the green is really gold, he just means that it's good. You know Johnny, I'm really sorry, but I'm not the best at English." I added eagerly, "Got any math homework you need help with?"

"It's okay, you tried. Besides, I think I kind of get it."

"You should really talk to someone else about this, someone better at English than I am."

Johnny just frowned.

"What's the matter?" I asked concerned.

"I just don't like asking the guys for help with school things."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know, I ask Pony for help all the time and he's so much smarter than me."

"Well, thanks Johnny I see how it is," I said sarcastically, "You don't have a problem asking me for help."

Johnny laughed, "That's different though, you're way older than me. I bet no one else has to ask you for help."

Now it was my turn to laugh, "Are you kidding? Johnny, everyone asks for help. You probably ask for help the least, so don't worry none; I want to help when I can."

Johnny smiled again, "Thanks Linda."

I gave Johnny a hug as Soda walked into the room.

"What are we doing?" Soda asked picking up the paper on the table.

He stared at it for a couple of seconds with a confused look on his face, promptly put it back down, and then said decidedly, "yuck. Homework."

Soda helped himself to an apple as I asked, "Speaking of homework, Soda, have you done yours?"

Soda sighed and answered me with a mouth full of apple, "no."

I raised my eyebrows at him as if to say, "Make sure you do."

"You know," Soda shouted while running out of the room, "I actually need help on this one part, let me go get it."

I gave Johnny a look that said, "I told you so." Johnny smiled while putting the poem away.

Soda returned with a bunch of crumpled up papers in his arms that he proceeded to dump on the table.

"Wow Soda," I said, "Your organizational skills are astounding."

"Thanks," he said sifting through the papers. He examined one and then held it up triumphantly shouting, "found it!"

I laughed at him and snatched the paper out of his hand.

"Okay, so three plus x equals 9. What is x?"

He frowned, "I don't know, Linda, that's why I'm asking for help."

Darry, who had entered the room, was now chortling. Soda glared at him and returned his focus back on me.

"Alright," I continued, "Say to yourself, 'three plus what equals nine?'."

"Three plus what equals nine," Soda repeated.

"Can you answer the question you just asked?"

"No," he said half-heartedly. I doubted if he was even trying at this point.

At this point Two-Bit, with Debbie trailing behind, came crashing through the front door yelling, "Honey, I'm home!"

"Two-Bit," Darry chided, "It was only funny the first time."

"Whatever you say muscles," Two-Bit replied, "do you have any breakfast?"

"Sorry," I said, "I was first up, I should have started something.

By this point, Pony had woken up and joined us all in the kitchen, choosing to stand next to Debbie.

"Two-Bit, must you be so loud?" Pony asked.

"Blame Debbie," Two-Bit said, "She woke me up. Eager to get here or something I guess."

Debbie blushed and we all exchanged knowing smiles.

"Well Pony, I'm surprised it took you that long to wake up anyway, with all the racket Soda was making."

Soda put his hands up in defense, "I can't help that I'm a loud person. I just got up because I had to pee. And I was hungry, I'm still hungry. Who's cooking?"

"Two-Bit, why don't you be useful for once and cook?"

I went back to explaining math to Soda.

"Why do I have to cook?" Two-Bit asked.

"Because Linda's helping Soda," Darry explained.

"Well who was second up, let them cook," Two-Bit rationalized.

We all looked to Johnny who had a scared look on his face.

"I can't cook," Johnny supplied.

"Come on," Pony said pulling him over to the stove, "I'll teach you."

Debbie joined them soon after and the three started throwing flour at each other.

"Think of it this way, there are two numbers that add up to nine, three and something else. What's the something else?"

"Oh!" Soda said delightedly, "Six."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed.

"Finally," Soda said, "I get it!"

And it was just in time too, with all the merriment around us, the kitchen was bound to erupt into chaos soon.

A/N: Another chapter! I don't know what else there is to say, there will be more in the future!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: First of all, I must apologize for my long absence. I'm ridiculous. I'm sure that by now any readers that I had, have understandably given up on me. Now, I'm on a forced bed rest for 6 weeks due to my recent surgery. My life simply got too busy to keep up with this story and I let it go, but now I have plenty of time to continue writing again. I realize that from the get go it will probably be just me with no readers, but I need to finish this story if not for all of the wonderful people who have given me critique and advice, then for myself. I also want to thank the people who took the time to review the last chapter I wrote before disappearing off the face of the earth. LoVeLiFe17 and Lucy Elizabeth Curtis as always thank you thank you thank you for your reviews. Masked Mistress I appreciated your insight immensely; I am very grateful for your review.

That was a very long author's note. Let us begin again…

"Get going, y'all are gonna be late," Darry said as he walked out the door to go to work.

"Bye Dar," Soda yelled his mouth full of breakfast.

I was lounging on the couch eating when I glanced at the clock.

"You really should get a move on," I said casually.

"We're going, we're going," Soda said wiping his mouth off on his sleeve and heading toward the door, "See you all later," he shouted as he and Steve headed out the door.

I went over to the kitchen and placed my plate in the sink. I turned to face a still flour covered Pony, Debbie, and Johnny sitting at the kitchen table.

"You know you still have flour everywhere right?" I said absentmindedly brushing some flour out off of Johnny's hair.

"We were going for a new look," Debbie said laughing.

Just then, the phone rang. When I answered it was Patrick. "Hey there," I said cheerfully."

"Hi," Patrick said in the same cheerful tone, "I was wondering if you were busy later."

"Today's my day off," I answered.

"I would love to take you out to dinner," he said.

I thought for a moment and finally answered, "I'd love that," realizing that I needed to go out more.

"I'll pick you up at seven," he said.

"It's a date," I confirmed before realizing the full connotation behind that statement.

He chuckled, "see you then." I hung up the phone and smiled.

Pony was staring at me with a smirk on his face.

"Who was _that_?" Two-Bit mocked from the living room.

"Shut up Two-Bit, you're watching T.V." I said.

"Linda's got a date!" Pony laughed.

I sighed, "I never thought I'd see the day when Pony was giving me a hard time about this."

I grabbed my purse off the counter and said, "I can't deal with you clowns, I'm heading to the store." As an afterthought I added to the trio at the table, "You kids staying here?"

"Deb and I were going to head to the movies," Pony said.

"Which one," I asked genuinely curious.

"That new Paul Newman one," Debbie said, "I sure do love his movies."

"Alright, have fun," I said slipping out the door.

XXX

Heading out of the grocery store parking lot I decided to head to the DX. When I pulled up to get gas I looked around for Soda. As usual, he was surrounded by a group of girls. He caught my eye and waved enthusiastically. He quickly excused himself from the group and bounded toward my car.

"Hey Linda, why're you here?" he asked.

"Well, I need gas," I said then added, "plus I wanted to see my brother at his new job."

"Well, here I am," he said beaming.

""Yeah, grease stains and all," I said swatting his DX shirt with the back of my hand.

He smiled. "I guess I should fill her up," Soda said patting the car.

"Guess so," I said laughing.

XXX

I pulled up to the house right after Two-Bit arrived with Pony and Debbie.

"Glad you guys asked Two-Bit for a ride, I hate when you guys walk alone," I said in greeting.

"Yeah, Deb remembered to before we left," Pony explained.

"Well, how was the movie?" I asked.

Pony and Debbie exchanged a glance and they both chuckled, "good."

"Looks like it," I said eyeing them holding hands.

Pony's ears turned a little red and Debbie smiled sheepishly.

I smiled to myself, pat Pony on the back, and walked inside.

A/N: Wow, I'm pretty rusty! This is kind of short and choppy, but hopefully, the correlation between the book and the story are evident now. I remembered while writing that Dal is supposed to be released from jail today, but since I never put him IN jail, that's going to be a little hard to do, darn! Hopefully, I can be forgiven for the error. If I stick to my plan, the next chapter will be the last one.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I forgot to put a disclaimer for the last chapter. Forgive me. The Outsiders belongs to the brilliant S.E. Hinton. There will be a lot of original text in this chapter.

A/N: Here we go, the last chapter! Thanks to Lucy Elizabeth Curtis for her review.

Alright…

"I've had a really nice time with you tonight," I said as Patrick walked me up to my door.

"You too, Linda, I'm glad we did this," he said with a smile.

I leaned in closer to Patrick. His smile dissolved into an expression of anticipation. My face was inches away from his when I heard a commotion coming from inside.

"You don't yell at him!" Ponyboy cried. An instant later Pony came running out of the house.

"Pony, what's wrong?" I said trying to grab him. He broke free and kept running down the street without saying a thing to me.

"I didn't mean to!" Darry yelled after him.

"Patrick, I'm sorry. I have to deal with this. I'll call you tomorrow!" I said running in the house.

Once inside Soda was yelling at Darry, "What'd you have to go and do that for?"

"Now hold on a minute, what happened?" I said silencing everyone.

"Darry hit him!" Soda cried.

Darry looked at me with sadness in his eyes. "Explain on the way, we have to go after him."

The three of us took off out the door.

"You know he's faster than a Jackrabbit, I hope we're not too late," I said in between strides.

We chased him clear to the park and when we finally cut him off Soda nearly had to tackle him to get him to stop.

"Where'd you think you were going?" I asked Pony.

"I don't know," he said laying down in the grass, "I can't take Darry yelling at me all the time. And then when he…"

I looked over at Darry who was hanging his head in shame.

"Pony I, "Darry said, "I'm real sorry. I never should have hit you. It scares me to death when you come home late. I get so worried thinking something might have happened…"

Ponyboy sat up and looked at Darry now.

"I can't bear the thought of losing you."

Pony still wouldn't say anything.

"I promise I'll never lay a hand on you again," Darry said, "I was just scared. I love you too much to bear the thought of losing you."

At that Darry let one tear slide down his cheek.

Ponyboy put his head into my shoulder. "Pony," I asked gingerly, "Are you going to be alright?"

I sat there stoking his hair until he finally lifted up his head.

His eyes were all teary now too, "I'm sorry. I know I don't use my head all the time."

"It's okay Pone," Soda assured, "You don't have to cry."

"I'm not crying," he said. Soda gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Well boys," I said giving all three of them a giant hug, "I love you all. And as far as tonight goes, it could have turned out a lot worse. Let's go home."

"Race you," Pony challenged, leaping up.

It was a real nice night for a race. The air was clear and cold and so clean it almost sparkled. The moon wasn't out but the stars lit up everything. It was quiet except for the sound of our feet on the cement and the dry, scraping sound of leaves blowing across the street. It was a real nice night. We had each other, we had the gang, and what I said earlier held very true: the night could have turned out a lot worse.

A/N: The End. I'm really sad to see the story go. I had a lot of fun writing it. Hopefully the ending wasn't too sappy or OOC. I wanted it to be like the ending of the original, hence all the original text. I feel like having a female influence like an older sister really would have mellowed out Darry and Pony's hostility and might have even avoided Bob's death and Windrixville altogether. Hopefully I'm not completely romanticizing that. I just really like the idea of having everyone live! Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
